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2021 NASCAR thread


Prepuce of Doom

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First NASCAR test at COTA prompts prediction of "epic starts" https://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/nascar-test-cota-elliott/5553689/

Yeah, Brad, it was intentional...

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Keselowski said it seemed the course was made to produce a lot of action and hard racing.

“Turn 1 is designed as though a fan said, ‘How can I have the most calamity in that corner on the start?’ So there’s a couple of things – first off, it’s up hill, which helps the car stop, so it encourages the driver to try to out-brake another driver, which is big on a restart or a start because all of the cars are already so close together,” he said.

“Second thing is, it’s really wide on entry, so it’s almost impossible to block because there’s just a lot more race track. And then, of course, the third part is it’s a super slow corner meaning you have to use a lot of brakes to get through there.


“So, like I said, almost like it was intentional – I’m sure it was intentional – to create some epic starts. I think you’ll see that here.”

'Calamity' will mark the beginning of NASCAR's EchoPark Texas Grand Prix in May https://www.statesman.com/story/sports/nascar/2021/03/02/austin-nascar-fans-embracing-different-racing-than-just-f-1/6890244002/

Edited by wood
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BTW re: the COTA tire test, by late morning & after just a few quick runs, my buddy timed a 2:14 after a 2:18 lap earlier. That'll surely come down significantly with current tires, a warmer, rubbered in track, and proper practice & setup time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not really totally on the NASCAR topic, but this thread is probably the closest I'll get. My 17 yo and I are headed to Cotton Bowl tomorrow night for our first ever World of Outlaws race. We couldn't be more excited. This race has taken three years to happen. Rained out in 2019. COVID'd out in 2020. Snowed out in February of this year and then rescheduled for this weekend. Fingers crossed! 410 sprints on 3/8 mile of clay. Can not wait. Saw the Bandits last Friday at HoT in Waco, & they were great. Expect this to be even better....

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^Man, when you're used to watching the 305 sprints most of the time, the raw power and speed of the 410s is a bit of a shock to the senses at first. Unreal. Had to recalibrate for the first few laps.

Really nice crowd. Sold out for tonight.

Great racing last night. Not too many crashes. There was one big one where a car flipping end over end hit the front stretch fence and took out a portion of the flag stand structure, causing about a 30 minute delay to shore it up and repair the fence. No injuries all night, so we got that goin' for us. There was another smaller incident in the feature race that my kid caught on video:

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
12 minutes ago, Updawg said:

It is the most nascar I have ever watched.

Those fans sitting close to the track must be covered in dirt.

Reminds me of ACL fest during the dust bowl year.

Yeah the closed stadium leaves nowhere for the dust to go. It typically blows away at the smaller tracks. You can see dirt all over everything close to the track at Bristol. They're gonna be finding that shit everywhere for months.

The track itself is in terrible shape. It's typically much better at local tracks. 

Edited by wood
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7 hours ago, Steamboat1874 said:

There was nothing wrong with that track.

That was awesome in my opinion and the drivers seem to love it.

Can't wait to see it again next year. 

Compared to a typical local dirt track on a Friday or Saturday night, there was plenty wrong with it. But it didn't help that they didn't have cars built for dirt. It'd be a lot cooler if they did. It still wasn't a bad show, but the track was a mess.

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  • 4 weeks later...

They are running a throwback tribute to Davey Allison in tomorrow's Talladega race - they got permission to use the #28, etc.

https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2021/04/06/joey-gase-davey-allison-tribute-rick-ware-racing-nascar-cup-xfinity-talladega-superspeedway/

Would have been cooler if it had been somebody who actually knew Davey and/or raced against him, but oh well.

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Speaking of Davey Allison, I get that the drivers want the cars changed to spread out the field, but they'd have to really beef up the protection in front of the grandstands.  

NASCAR is still freaked out by the fact that in the same Talladega that Davey won back in the late 80s, his dad got into the catch fence and tore down over 100 feet of it.  Had there been another car airborne behind him, or more stuff flying off the cars, they would have had quite a few fatalities.

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17 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Actually maintaining 3-wide right now.

I wonder how fast Formula 1 would be on this track.

Do F1 cars ever go much more that 100 MPH ?

I know they are capable but the tracks they run on limit their speed a lot. I will never understand the allure of that parade they call a race.

Talladega was incredible.

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On 3/20/2021 at 5:23 PM, wood said:

^Man, when you're used to watching the 305 sprints most of the time, the raw power and speed of the 410s is a bit of a shock to the senses at first. Unreal. Had to recalibrate for the first few laps.

Really nice crowd. Sold out for tonight.

Great racing last night. Not too many crashes. There was one big one where a car flipping end over end hit the front stretch fence and took out a portion of the flag stand structure, causing about a 30 minute delay to shore it up and repair the fence. No injuries all night, so we got that goin' for us. There was another smaller incident in the feature race that my kid caught on video:

 

I must have been within a few seats of you.   I was on the top row directly above that fence surrounding the walkway from under the bleachers 

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5 hours ago, Bill Brasky said:

I must have been within a few seats of you.   I was on the top row directly above that fence surrounding the walkway from under the bleachers 

Good seats, right? My kid and I were sitting in the seats atop the steps. He was the tall skinny one, about 6' 5".

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10 hours ago, Steamboat1874 said:

Do F1 cars ever go much more that 100 MPH ?

I know they are capable but the tracks they run on limit their speed a lot. I will never understand the allure of that parade they call a race.

Talladega was incredible.

when qualifying is  more exciting than the race your racing is fucked up.

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On 4/24/2021 at 9:19 PM, atomheartbevo said:

ould have been cooler if it had been somebody who actually knew Davey and/or raced against him, but oh well.

Joey Gase's mother died suddenly of a brain aneurysm, donated her organs so that 66 people could live, and now Joey tries to raise awareness at every opportunity - hopefully that's enough street cred, even if he's too young to have known Davey... 

https://www.jayski.com/2020/10/24/donate-life-texas-joey-gase-team-up-for-an-organ-and-tissue-donation-tribute/#:~:text=Faced with a difficult decision,friends at Donate Life Texas.

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
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Eric McClure dead at 42

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/02/us/eric-mcclure-nascar-driver-death/index.html
 

Quote

The Washington County, Virginia, Sheriff's Department confirmed McClure's death to CNN. Emergency personnel were called to McClure's home Sunday morning where they found his body. 

His body was sent to Virginia Department of Forensic Science in Roanoke for an autopsy, Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis told CNN. 

No cause of death has been provided, and McClure was active on social media as recently as Saturday.

Quote

McClure raced in NASCAR for 14 years between 2003 and 2016, primarily in NASCAR's second tier Xfinity Series. McClure competed in three races in the top tier Cup Series in his career.

Quote

McClure experienced serious health problems in recent years, as he detailed to the Bristol Herald Courier in 2019. McClure told the newspaper after a series of serious health scares, he had been diagnosed with a severe musculoskeletal disorder. These disorders "are injuries or disorders of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, and spinal discs," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Quote

A doctor told me that I had rhabdomyolysis. That put me on compartment syndrome and full kidney failure," McClure said in 2019.

After undergoing dialysis and multiple surgeries to save his limbs, McClure began to show signs of improvement, according to the Herald Courier, though he said he still experienced some numbness in his extremities.

 

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16 hours ago, RPM said:

NASCAR ditches decades of tradition for its Next Gen race car

Sounds good. New body panels to actually look like the factory ride, new transaxle and finally ditching the 5 lug setup for a single lug.

"Another big change for 2022 is a list of single-supplier parts. In the past, teams made much of the cars themselves, but from next year they have to buy many components from approved vendors."

Not sure how that's going to play out, but interesting.

also, about time on the single lug.

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Guest Lobo

Is the NASCAR race coming to COTA later this month...is that a one-off race or did they sign a multi-year deal?  I found conflicting links.  

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9 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Is the NASCAR race coming to COTA later this month...is that a one-off race or did they sign a multi-year deal?  I found conflicting links.  

Pretty sure it's a one-off deal for now.  It's not actually a contract with COTA, but rather it's entirely owned/promoted by NASCAR, and they are just renting the track for the weekend.

 

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On 5/10/2021 at 5:11 PM, Lobo said:

Is the NASCAR race coming to COTA later this month...is that a one-off race or did they sign a multi-year deal?  I found conflicting links.  

SMI (owners of Texas, Charlotte, Bristol, etc.), not NASCAR, is leasing the track and operating the race. It is a one off for 2021. The yet to be announced 2022 NASCAR schedule is expected to have more changes so the future is unknown.

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On 5/10/2021 at 5:11 PM, Lobo said:

Is the NASCAR race coming to COTA later this month...is that a one-off race or did they sign a multi-year deal?  I found conflicting links.  

On 5/10/2021 at 5:22 PM, utee94 said:

Pretty sure it's a one-off deal for now.  It's not actually a contract with COTA, but rather it's entirely owned/promoted by NASCAR, and they are just renting the track for the weekend.

5 hours ago, Jim Krivacs said:

SMI (owners of Texas, Charlotte, Bristol, etc.), not NASCAR, is leasing the track and operating the race. It is a one off for 2021. The yet to be announced 2022 NASCAR schedule is expected to have more changes so the future is unknown.

NASCAR don't take a dump without a plan, or something.

A few weeks back, one of the racing blogs had an article about NASCAR looking at various new markets, because they feel like some of their existing markets are too saturated, and that a lot of their fans are simply not going to multiple races, and are just picking one or two, etc. (a lot of NASCAR fans in SECSECSEC country have fairly easy access to quite a few races).

Austin was mentioned as pulling in Austin, San Antonio, maybe Houston, etc. because they think some will travel to Austin, who wouldn't travel to DFW. And Austin is a sexy city or something.

Oh, and because this is such a different track for NASCAR, they think it will draw more viewers.  And that there maybe a lot more drama than normal.

I would not be surprised if we get another race next year, but I also wouldn't be surprised if we don't. They need healthy numbers to attend in person, and healthy numbers of TV viewers, and advertisers need to be happy, both TV and in-person.

Honestly, I'm happy they are coming, but this is just chasing the symptoms, and not what actually ails NASCAR, and what is causing so many empty stands.

 

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On 5/11/2021 at 11:20 PM, atomheartbevo said:

Austin was mentioned as pulling in Austin, San Antonio, maybe Houston, etc. because they think some will travel to Austin, who wouldn't travel to DFW. And Austin is a sexy city or something.

Oh, and because this is such a different track for NASCAR, they think it will draw more viewers.  And that there maybe a lot more drama than normal.

I would not be surprised if we get another race next year, but I also wouldn't be surprised if we don't. They need healthy numbers to attend in person, and healthy numbers of TV viewers, and advertisers need to be happy, both TV and in-person.

I'm an ex-NASCAR fan, but I'm excited about them going to COTA. They need more road courses. I'm just worried it's not wide enough for NASCAR to pass and be competitive. Guess we'll find out.

NASCAR knows the Hispanic market loves racing. They learned not to go below the border after Mexico City because they will literally steal you blind. With the border situation the way it is, this is a very good compromise market-wise. 

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6 hours ago, wood said:

No ice chests, food, cash, or backpacks at COTA. Clear plastic bags only...

 

Thanks for the heads-up.  With chances of rain off-and-on, I'll need a backpack to stow the rain gear.  So I just purchased a couple of clear ones off Amazon.

I expected no ice chests, of course, though plenty of longtime NASCAR fans on various forums and social media are definitely surprised and upset about it.

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2 hours ago, utee94 said:

 

Thanks for the heads-up.  With chances of rain off-and-on, I'll need a backpack to stow the rain gear.  So I just purchased a couple of clear ones off Amazon.

I expected no ice chests, of course, though plenty of longtime NASCAR fans on various forums and social media are definitely surprised and upset about it.

Yes that kind of sucks. Most NASCAR tracks allow you to bring in your own beer in a cooler that will fit under your seat.

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21 minutes ago, Steamboat1874 said:

Yes that kind of sucks. Most NASCAR tracks allow you to bring in your own beer in a cooler that will fit under your seat.

Yup, that's what I hear.  I can understand their anger, it seems it's sort of a NASCAR tradition.

Although I have to say, no other sporting event I can think of, allows you to do that.  Football, basketball, soccer, hockey, tennis, volleyball, badminton, ping pong-- all expect you to buy your concessions on the premises.  And I'm used to COTA, I've been there a couple dozen times, so I figured they wouldn't allow them.

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OK, RV is dropped off and the track looks great.  Well, as great as new paint and a lot of still-existing bumps can look, right @wood? ;)

Nothing on track tomorrow until 12:45 so it'll be a nice leisurely morning jaunt out to the track.  I'm really looking forward to it, sounds like several of the Cup drivers are going to be doing Xfinity to get a little extra track time, which should be fun.

Of course, then I always wonder, what Xfinity driver did they displace, and how does that guy feel about it?  

 

 

 

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I wish my vendor that does F1 and MotoGP was doing a tailgate on the back straight for this one, but they couldn't get anyone to call them back... not sure of the story.

My other vendor that sponsors a car came through with a couple of Paddock Club passes. Last weekend, I was researching and found out they were going to allow in 550 guests to the pit/garages (8 per car, 4 per driver, 40 track, 50 Nascar), so I shot off an email and was like "Hey buddy.. can you hook me up even more?" And he came through with some pit passes for the cup race. So look for my drunk ass to be wandering around down there while the wife probably sits upstairs. I hope to get there early enough on Sunday to see qualifying and the Lambo race, but that's up to the wife.

Edited by relapse98
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Really love the professional approach the SMI people take to putting on the race. 

Do not care for 1/3 of COTA being fenced off to fans - from Turn 5 almost to the T12 grandstand. That's some of the best of COTA.

E174aiPWUAEYYhL.jpg

Edited by wood
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26 minutes ago, Updawg said:

And I’m sure you can’t watch from the bridges.

I enjoy just wondering around out there.

You could watch a fair bit from the bridges today, but I'm sure that'll be tolerated less and less as the weekend progresses. Re: wandering around, yeah, me too. I felt a bit boxed in today. For GA, you really only have T1 down to T5. I had T15 seats, but that gets old for me pretty quick.

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